"If helping the poor is a crime, and fighting for freedom is rebellion, then I plead guilty as charged." --Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Statement of Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging

Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging (NFS)1 March 2006

ARROYO'S STATE OF EMERGENCY CONDEMNED IN PICKET AT RP EMBASSY IN NETHERLANDS

Chanting “Gloria Arroyo, weg, weg weg!” (out, out, out), protesters picketed the Philippine embassy in The Hague today to condemn Gloria Arroyo’s state of emergency, the arrests of progressive party list congressmen, the raid on several opposition newspapers and the violations of civil liberties.

The protesters from the Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging and MIGRANTE Europe were joined by activists from the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) and HTIF, a federation of Turkish workers in the Netherlands.

They distributed statements to passers-by and shouted slogans calling for Gloria Arroyo’s ouster. The statements were signed by several Filipino organizations in the Netherlands like Pinay sa Holland, Migrante Party List-Netherlands, Kabalikat, Linkap, Migrante-Netherlands, Committee DEFEND, ILPS-NL and some friends of the Filipino people.

The protesters were joined by Guido van Leemput, international secretary of the Socialist Party of the Netherlands that has several seats in the Dutch Parliament. He said he went to the picket as an individual concerned over the situation in the Philippines. He said he plans to bring the issue for discussion within his party sothat their members of parliament can call attention to the alarming situation in the Philippines in the Dutch Parliament.

Representatives of the protesters went inside the embassy to discuss their concern with Philippine embassy officials present.

The protesters vowed to continue with their mass actions in the next few days and weeks even months, until the state of emergency is lifted, those arrested released and Gloria Arroyo steps down from the presidency. There will be another picket tomorrow, March 2 at the Dam Square in the center of Amsterdam starting at 4pm. ###